Once a week (preferably on the same day each week) we recommend that you:
1. Post a message in the class announcements area, letting the students know what the topics that will be covered in the coming week and reminding them of any assignment or quiz/exam due dates.
EXAMPLE: Check out these great weekly announcement examples:
- Weekly Announcement Example 1 (pdf), Weekly Announcement Example 1 (word document), Shannon Kennan: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/files/sites/file/WeeklyAnnouncementExample_Kennan.pdf
- Weekly Announcement Example 2 (pdf),Weekly Announcement Example 2 (word document), Amy Garbrick : https://www.e-education.psu.edu/files/sites/file/AmyGarbrick_WeeklyLetterExample.pdf
2. Update your class schedule with any new or revised due dates
3. Summarize discussion forum conversations, since it can be hard to bring a close to those discussions and/or cull out the important points before moving on to other discussions!
EXAMPLE: Instructor Kay Shattuck provided this great summary of one of her class discussions (pdf) (word document). https://www.e-education.psu.edu/files/sites/file/KayShattuck_DiscussionSummaryExampl
4. Consider holding online (virtual) office hours
Giving your students a chance to communicate with you in real-time can help build strong relationships and motivate students to fully engage in the class. Two popular options for conducting live office hours with geographically dispersed students are Instant Messaging/Group Chats (text-based discussions) and Blackboard Collaborate (web conferencing) sessions. Just let your students know when and how to join your office hours! Work with your Instructional Designer to determine which communications tool is best for you and how to set it up in your course.
- To use Instant Messaging/Group Chats in Connect, see “Uses and Benefits of Blackboard Collaborate Instance Messaging“, and how to ” Get Started“.
- To use Blackboard Collaborate within Connect, see how to “Setup a Web Conferencing Session in Connect“.